Uncoupling device.



T. H. WlLLlAMS. UNCOUPUNG DEVlCE. canon m:

1,294,010. Patented Feb. 11,1919.

2 SH ETS-$HEET l- T. H. WILLIAMS. UNCOUPUNG DEVKIE. APPLICATWN HLEDAUGJ3. 19H.

Patented Feb.'11,1919.

i fl 'f t 2 sums-sum 2 THERON H. WILLIAMS, CHICAGO,

ILLINOT- UNCOUPLING- DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented eb. it. 13.,

Application filed August 13, 1917. Serial No. 185,848.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Tnnnon H. YVILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented. a new and useful Improvement in Uncoupling Devices, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to uncoupling devices provided to operate thecoupler lock of the couplers of railway cars and the like.

My invention has for an object the provision of an uncoupling deviceeliminating the ordinary chain and cleviee coupler-connection, which hasbeen the source of much ii'iconveniencc, expense and annoyance, andproviding a readily applied and securely attached one-piececonnectionoperable with the ordinary and unaltered crank-lever and coupler pin andyet freely. accommodating itself to the variable positioning of thecoupler-pin without special fitting to a different draft-riggings andwithout tending to either cramp or twist either the connected crankarmor coupler-pin in any position of rest or movement, and acting to liftthe pin by direct pull but allowing an extreme range for the fulldropping back of the lifted pin into locking position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it isbetter understood from the following description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferredembodiment thereof without excludng other en'ibodiments that are withinthe scope of the claims hereinafter made and dilferentiated from theprior art.

On the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the part of a car end showing thecoupler and an uncouplingdevice embodying. my present in- Vention, theparts being arranged in locked or normal operative position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view coupler unlocked and the vatcd position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the parts in lock-set position with theoperating rod or lever returned to normal position; and

Fig. 4 is a large-scale view of the connection member or connector.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown on the drawinga car end, generally designated at 4, from which a coupler 5 of ordinaryconstruction extends. This coupler is provided with a knuckle 6 showingthe locking pm in clcand knuckle locking pin '2' adapted to be lifted tobring the knuckle to uncoupled pt sition. The locking pin is providedwith. an eye 8 of standard form, in whi h eve an an uncoupling device isadapted to he f to manipulate the knuckle. The standard ordinary form ofoperatmg rod or lever t is shown mounted in the customary 10 and havingthe operating" arm 11 rlifting arm 12. The end of the liftln 12 isprovided with the ordinary (g.. in disposed horizontally insuliistanl'ial parallelism with the eye 8 of the couplcrqiiin inaccordance with the usual practice. More particular description oi thecoupler and the operating rod are not believed to be necessary here,since these devices, above described, are all shown in the ordinaru orstandard form now enerally employed consequently well mown to all pcfamiliar with the art.

he lifting arm 12 oi. the ope mtinp lever is connected by a loopconnector 1% in which, both alone and in combination with other 5%affected parts, my present invention is illustratively en'ibodied. Thisconnector is. rigid and consists of a single piece of ordinary, eavy rodbent as will now be indicated. One end 15 is bent to form an eye andinsorted through the horizontally disposed eye 13 in the arm 12, thefinal portion of the bend, to close the aforesaid eye to the term shownin Fig. *1, being given by a clenching" tool or a few haminer-blowsafter the said rcbcnt end' 15 is put through the eye in the crank arm12. The rest of the connector rod is bent at and beyond a middle point16 to give it an asynunel'ric bow-t .'n-m, the part 17 between the eye15 and the recurving point 16 being straight, and the part 19 betweenthe recurvingpoint 16 and the other end 18 being bowed outwardly, withthe curve of the bow more abrupt toward the end 18 and sloping moregradually to ward the recurring at 16. The end 18 is extended beyond andrcbeiit away from the loop 15 as indicated on the drawings, to provide aretaining means that prevents the bow from slipping out of the eye ofthe coupler-pin in service. The connector is assembled with the otherparts by threading the end 18 through the eye 8 oi the coupler-pin whileholding the bow substantially horizontally, and then the pi'isitionhigis so shifted that the eye 15, which for this pose is left open, asabove noted, may be mall...

put

\being permitted by through the eye 13 of and then the eye 15 is closed,as also above noted, to complete the assembling; and thus the rod orconnector becomes pern'ianently attached to the lifting-arm l2 andcannot be removed unless some suitable and powerful tool be employed toopen the eye 15, and the coupler-pin cannot slip over the reheat end 18in any position into which the bow can be shifted in service.

Viewing Fig. 1, in which the parts are arranged in the position theyhave when the cougler'is in action, it will be noted that an upwardmovement of the lifting arm 11 will cause a ,direct-pull'lifting of thecoupler pin through the agency of the connector, the portion 16 of therod engaging in the eye of the locking pin. The pull of the upwardmovement of the arm 12 is transmitted by the straight part 17 of the rodto release the coupler, the movement being from the position shown inFig. 1 to that shown in Fig. A release or lowering of the lifting armll. will permit the parts to assume the lockset position shown in Fig.3, the operating lever returning to normal position and the locking pin.moving down until it rests upon the tail of the knuckle. lhis movementchanges the relative position of the operating arm 12 of the lever andthe upper end of the coupler lock, this changed relation p a sliding ofthe bowed art 19 of the connector through the eye 15 of the couplerlocking pin, this movement being within. the limit determined. by therebent end of the rod. The asymmetric bowed form, with the bow soreadingtoward its end away from the normal position of the coupler pin,prevents the rod from cramping in the eye of the pin and permits itsfree sliding in any position of the pin, and the lifted pin cannot deadcenter in the narrow recurving at 16 and so cannot hold the connectorin. its lifted position or block the dropping of the hand lever tonormal, and also cannot dead center on the abrupt curve near the end 18and so cannot hold the pin from dropping from the position shown in Fig.3 to that shown in Fig. 1. lVhen the car provided with the couplerdevices disposed as in Fig. 3 couples to an adjacent car, the lockingpin drops infront of the knuckle tail, sliding back along the connectorcurve 19 to the position shown in Fig. 1. The movement of the coupleracross the car body as the connected cars travel in service is permittedalso by the sliding connection bctwcen the coupler lock and connector,and the pivotal connection between the connector and operating lever.The form given the rod is such that only under upward pull of theoperating rod in uncoupling is there a fixed relation between the parts,and the shape of the connector permits it to turn freely about itsconnection the operating arm,

with the operating lever and to slide freely through the eye of thelocking pin permitting the other movements.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing its most material advantages.

1 claim:

1. In an un oupling device, in combination: a hand-operated crank-leverand a bow-formed connector having a straight arm with its end movablysecured through said lever and having a bowed arm adapted to slidablyengage through the eye of the coupler pin.

2. An uncoupling-device connector member of bow form and having astraight arm with its end bent for pivotal engagement and having theother arm curved for sliding on gagement, and adapted to form a freelyselfaccominodating connection directly linking a coupler pin with itsoperating lever.

3. An uncoupling-device connector member of asymmetric bow formandhaving a straight arm with its end bent for pivotal engagement andhaving the other arm asymmetrically curved for sliding engagement, andadapted to form a freely self-accomodating connection directly linking acoupler pin with its operating lever.

' l. An uncoupling-device connector member of elongated looped form andhaving the two arms disposed asymmetrically in re spect of each other,to allow for such movable engagement with a coupler pin and itsoperating lever that one arm may slide freely without dead centering inrespect of the other.

5. The combination of a standard car coupler and an uncoupling device,the latter comprising, only two movable members, an

operating lever having an eye disposed horizontally in substantialparallelism with the eye of the knuckle locking pin, and a rigid memberfreely depending from and directly connecting said lever and said pinand pivoted in one of said eyes and slidably engaged in the other, suchsliding engagement accommodating the back and forth and the up and downas well as lateral displacements of the knuckle locking pin in respectof the operating lever.

6. The combination of a standard car coupler and an uncoupling device,comprisin an operating lever having an eye in its end and a rod bentinto bow-form having one end pivotally engaged in the eye of said leverand the other end disposed in the eye of the locking pin.

7. The combination of a standard car coupier and an uncoupling device,comprising an operating lever having an eye in its end, and a rod bentinto bow-form having one end pivotally engaged in the eye of said leverand the other end disposed in the eye of the locking pin, the free endof said rod eing bent to prevent its Withdrawal from the locking pin.

8. The combination of a car coupler having a knuckle lock provided Withan eye in its end, an uncoupling lever also having an eye in its end,and a member connecting said eyes and comprising only a single rod bentto loop form and having the end of one arm of the loop secured to one ofsaid eyes and the body of the other arm of the loop slidably disposed inthe other of said eyes.

9. A connecting member for an uncoupling device, comprising a rod bentinto bowform, the curved arm of the bow being adapted for insertionthrough the eye of a. knuckle locking pin and the straight arm of thebow having one end adapted for insertion through the eye of a standarduncoupling lever andbendable thereafter to lock the connecting member inplace.

10. A connecting member for an uncoupling device, comprising a rod bentto general loop form, one arm being of curved form with a recurvedretaining end adapted for insertion through the eye of a knuckle locking30 pin and the other arm of the loop having a curved end adapted forinsertion through the eye of a standard uncoupling lever and bendablethereafter to lock the connecting member in place.

In testimony whereof I have-hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

THERON H. 'WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

HENRY Lovn CLARKE, M. EDNA BARRY.

